by Sarah Barrie
‘Okay. I just want to make sure you can reach your water and the phone. I’ll check on you in the morning. Will you be all right up here alone tonight?’
‘Not ever alone in this house. Go home, lock up. Goodnight, Callie.’
‘Goodnight.’ She took the tray to the kitchen, then, back at the entrance, eyed the cellar door suspiciously. She slipped her hand into her jacket pocket and smoothed her fingers over the padlock still hidden in there.
‘Oh, for heaven’s sake,’ she muttered. She pulled it out, slipped it through the metal clip and locked it in place. ‘No monsters,’ she berated herself, ‘no ghosts.’ But with Cliff’s Not ever alone in this house reverberating in her head, she wasted no time getting back to the cottage. And she did lock up, taking one extra look over her shoulder as she went in.
Safely inside, she called Paisley to fill her in. ‘He’s fine, don’t worry. I just thought you should know. But he was saying some weird things and the paramedic is worried about him managing his medication.’
‘I’m going to have to move faster on finding him somewhere to live,’ Paisley said. ‘This just isn’t safe anymore. Did you say Adelaide got the prescriptions filled for him?’
‘Yeah. And apparently there’s some new chemist in town she wasn’t fond of or something.’
‘Okay. Leave it with me, Callie … thanks.’
Callie hung up and made herself a cup of tea while she wondered again why it could be so important to lock the cellar. Why her being there made any difference. What did Cliff think he was locking out—or in? Unnerved, she got on the internet and looked up black tourmaline.
CHAPTER
13
Connor stood in the frost-crisped paddock and stared down at the dead horse while a sick, churning horror rolled in his stomach.
‘Was that Bailey?’
‘Yep,’ Logan said. Connor hadn’t seen that look on his face too many times in the past. But when they found out who was responsible for this … perversity, there wasn’t a doubt in his mind that the deranged mongrel was going to need protection.
‘Indy?’
‘On her way. She said to keep it quiet for the time being. Just until she’s had a chance to see what she’s dealing with.’
‘Right.’ He didn’t want to look at what was stretched out in front of him, but it was beyond him to look away. His mind just couldn’t process the image. The horse’s throat had been slashed and symbols had been painted in blood on its neck and flanks. ‘There’s just nothing I can say.’
‘He was a good horse. A sweet one. He didn’t deserve this.’
Nothing Connor could think of deserved this. ‘Of course he didn’t. Here’s Indy,’ he said with relief, as her four-wheel drive bumped its way through the paddock towards them.
‘Larissa and Harvey are due soon. Can you keep them busy while I deal with this?’
‘Sure.’ He sent Indy a token wave and trudged back to the stables, his jeans soaked to mid-calf by the wet grass. He was gutted for Logan; Bailey had been one of his best school horses. Mounts like that were treasured and impossible to replace. More troubling was that some sicko had been on their place.
Harvey had already arrived and smiled when he saw Connor coming into the stables. ‘Hi, Mr A.’
‘Morning, Harvey.’
‘Where’s Logan?’
‘Just taking care of something. He said you should get started as normal.’
‘No worries.’
‘Morning,’ Larissa said, appearing behind Harvey. ‘What’s going on in the paddock?’
‘Ah …’ Shit. He was going to have to tell them something. ‘Look, Bailey died last night.’
‘Bailey?’ Larissa’s eyes teared up.
There was a loud bang as Harvey dropped the wheelbarrow and stormed into one of the stables.
‘Yeah, Logan’s with him now. Do you know what to do until he gets back?’
‘Yeah. Yeah, sure. I’ll help get these horses out while Harvey cleans, then start feeding up.’
‘Just, um … just put them in the yards. Don’t head out into the paddock yet, okay?’
‘Sure.’
Satisfied Larissa was under control, he walked to the next stable to find Harvey. ‘Hey, you okay, mate?’
‘Yeah.’
‘He was a good horse.’
‘The best.’ When his voice broke, Harvey bit down hard on his lip.
‘It’s okay to be upset. I know Logan is. If you want to take a minute, a walk—’
Harvey shook his head. ‘Rather work.’
‘Okay.’
Just as Connor headed out again, Harvey asked, ‘Did you find that guy yesterday?’
‘What guy?’
‘Dunno. Turned up asking if Orson was around. I said he was out with the rest of Cole’s group. He asked if they’d be back today, told him no, just Fridays. He left.’
‘He never showed—probably couldn’t find us. Did he leave a name?’
‘Nup.’
No one should be visiting the guys out here. And after finding Bailey like that any stranger turning up on the place had to be treated with suspicion. He’d mention it to Indy. ‘What’d he look like?’
‘Ugly son of a bitch. Black hair in, like, a military cut. Had a Tasmanian devil tatt on the inside of his arm here.’ He pointed just above the inside of his wrist. ‘It was pretty cool.’
Connor committed the description to memory. ‘If he comes back, let Logan or I know straight away.’
‘Okay.’ He sniffed, turned his back to keep working.
‘Harvey?’
‘Yeah?’
‘You’re a good man. I’m glad we’ve got you.’
Connor went back to the office, and asked Kaicey if the mystery visitor had turned up at reception. He hadn’t. Then he let her know Bailey had died.
‘When?’
‘Overnight.’
‘Oh.’ As expected she looked sad, then the sadness abruptly turned to worry. ‘Was Bailey Orson’s horse?’
‘Yeah, actually. Why?’
‘And you said some guy had been down at the stables—looking for Orson.’
‘Kaicey, jeez—you look like you’ve seen a ghost. Sit down.’ He guided her to a chair. ‘What’s going on?’
‘How did the horse die?’
‘Can’t say,’ he replied, and if it sounded as though that meant there was no obvious cause, then so be it. Logan had said Indy wanted it kept quiet.
‘Okay.’ She breathed out a long sigh. ‘Okay, then. Could have been natural causes, right? Most likely.’
‘Why would you jump to any other conclusion?’
‘Oh … just, you know … Orson tends to have a habit of bringing trouble with him.’
Orson had been worried about someone in the bush, had been asking strange questions. A lump of lead landed in Connor’s stomach. ‘Trouble you thought would kill a horse?’ he asked, almost speechless.
‘Oh—no. I haven’t ever heard of anything like that,’ she said. ‘Really. Besides, you’d know, right? If someone had done something to the horse it would be obvious.’
‘Yeah. Yeah, it would.’ He wanted to tell her the truth to see if she had anything to say when she heard the details. But Logan had said Indy wanted it kept quiet. So he’d tell Indy, let her talk to Kaicey.
Disgusted, angry, upset, he went back outside, nearly barrelling into Tess.
‘There you are!’ she said happily. ‘What happened to coming out to check on the garden last night? Callie’s come back this morning to try and get that first garden done. Would you have time to check it out? Because I was thinking—’
‘Sorry, Tess. I’ll do what I can, but something’s come up.’
Her easy smile fell. ‘What’s happened?’
‘Come with me and I’ll tell you.’
Connor finally made time to find Tess and Callie around midmorning. It wasn’t that the garden hadn’t been on his mind, but other things had taken priority. Guests had had to be steered
clear of police, the horse had needed to be put carefully onto a transport after arrangements had been sorted for an autopsy. All in all, it had been a pretty damn terrible start to the day.
In the hope of settling his stomach, he swallowed a mouthful of ham and cheese sandwich and headed for the gardens, wondering why he shouldn’t just sit down and put his feet up for two seconds. He didn’t even particularly enjoy gardening. But Tess had mentioned the bigger trees would take a bit of manoeuvring, so he should help with those. Besides, he needed something to take the image of that poor animal out of his head. The more difficult the better.
So gardening. Callie. Who was she, anyway? Where had she come from? Tess had never mentioned her before. He sure as hell had never seen her around here. He’d been left with the impression he’d annoyed her by interrupting them yesterday. Those mossgreen eyes had been cautious and cool, just like the conversation. He had to wonder why. No doubt when he spent some more time with her he’d figure it out and the fascination would wear off, but maybe by then the image of Bailey might have dulled a bit, too.
Tess and Callie were hard at work when he found them. Trees and plants stood in position in pots or already in the ground. Connor studied the arrangement, deciding he liked the mix of plants and colours. He tried to picture the garden in a year’s time—in ten. It would be right in keeping with the established gardens, he decided.
Callie dropped the shovel into the soil with enough force that it stood up, then swung down to pick up a plant. With one tap the pot fell away and the plant was dropped into the hole and backfilled.
‘There you are!’ Tess said, and Callie glanced at him.
‘Here I am.’
‘Everything sorted out?’ Tess asked with concern.
‘As much as can be for now. Morning, Callie.’
This time when she looked up, she smiled briefly. ‘Hi.’
‘Sorry I didn’t make it back yesterday. Got held up. This looks great.’
‘It does,’ Tess agreed with forced brightness. She hadn’t looked at Bailey when she’d followed him back to the stables earlier. Hadn’t wanted to. He was glad of it. ‘Grab a shovel.’
‘All right. Anything I need to know?’ he asked Callie.
Another glance. ‘You just move the pots to the side of where they’re placed, put the hole under where they were sitting and fill them in.’ It’s not rocket science, her tone said.
He smiled for the first time all morning. ‘Got it.’ He headed straight for the larger trees and started digging while Callie grabbed another shovel. Tess chatted away, and though not quite her usual self, she did a good job of puncturing the silence while he admired Callie’s easy competence and speed. There was a different vibe about her out here. She wasn’t the cornered mouse he’d met in the staff room. She was out-planting him with practised skill and while he wouldn’t have said there was anything graceful about gardening, watching the deftness of those hands, the smooth movement of her toned body, changed his mind. When Tess queried the watering, a thoughtful crease appeared on Callie’s forehead as she mentioned sprinklers, drip lines and trenches for pipes.
When the plants were in they shovelled mulch into wheelbarrows then spread it thickly, avoiding the areas where irrigation lines would need to be laid. Callie was taking notes, he realised, as every now and then she pulled out her phone.
‘I know a fair bit of time and energy has already been put into shaping these beds,’ Callie said at one point, ‘but the next one along really needs to be extended by around two metres to accommodate a tree that can be underplanted, or it will lean out over the path. The grass will only ever be patchy underneath and look messy. And the bed behind that one shouldn’t curve in on itself—it looks like it will make a nice little knoll, but it’ll be a nightmare to get the mower around.’
‘That’ll mean more digging, reshaping with the machinery,’ Connor said.
‘I can operate earth-moving equipment. I have the certification.’
‘Do you?’ he said, impressed.
‘Anyone want a drink?’ Tess asked.
‘I could use one,’ Callie said.
‘Be right back,’ Tess said, and dropped her gloves on a nearby rock. ‘Connor?’
‘Wouldn’t hurt, thanks.’ Once Tess was on her way silence descended, so he decided to test the bounds of the big ‘keep out’ sign Callie may as well have had tattooed on her forehead. ‘So, how do you know Tess?’
Callie hesitated briefly before dropping another load of mulch onto the edge of the garden. It took her another moment to answer. ‘We ran into each other one day and got talking. She mentioned this, and I offered to help.’ She chewed her lip. ‘We’re going to need more mulch.’
‘We have a tonne of it around the back behind the machinery shed. I’ll show you where everything is.’
‘Okay.’ She dusted off her hands. ‘Lead the way.’
‘So you have a landscaping business?’ he asked as they walked.
‘Used to.’
‘What stopped you?’
‘I got married.’
There it is, he told himself, and acknowledged his disappointment. Whatever thoughts had cautiously entered his mind would have to stay there. Perhaps she just didn’t wear her ring when gardening. Made sense. ‘Being married meant you couldn’t own a business anymore?’
‘My husband already had a business he needed help with.’
‘Right. So from landscaper to …?’
An annoyed frown marked her brow as she considered her answer. ‘Business manager.’
‘Sounds like past tense?’
‘Yeah.’ She smiled at him with her mouth, but not her eyes. ‘It didn’t work out.’
‘The business or the marriage?’
‘The marriage.’ There was an impatience in her tone he knew he probably should have heeded.
‘How come?’
She stopped walking and faced him, hands on hips. ‘He died.’
And then he felt like a heel. ‘I’m sorry.’
‘I’m not.’ Her tone left no room for misinterpretation.
‘You’re not?’
‘At all,’ she said. There was no thoughtful sidestepping or wall building here. She stared back, defiance lighting her features. ‘Anything else?’
‘I wouldn’t dare,’ Connor muttered. Fascination now shadowed by caution, he wondered who this woman was. He studied Callie covertly as she turned to continue their trek to the machinery shed, noticed the haunted look that slid across her face when she thought he wasn’t watching. It had that niggle of recognition teasing him again. She really was lovely. But she was just a bit too thin, and though the full mouth and bright green eyes looked made for laughter, her cheeks were hollow, her eyes lightly shadowed. And was her skin naturally that pale? He wondered how long ago her husband had died, and what had happened to put the defensive tone in her voice and the miserable expression on her face.
It shouldn’t matter. He should mind his own business and leave Callie and her obvious dislike of him alone. At least until he knew more about her. And he wanted to know more about her.
Wanted to know more than he had about any woman in a long time.
* * *
‘Happy?’ Callie asked Tess and Connor a couple of hours later. They hadn’t finished, but they’d planted all the plants, got the mulching mostly completed.
‘Very,’ Tess agreed, ‘because one, it’s going to look like it’s supposed to, and two, it’s getting done quickly. Thanks.’ Then to Connor she said, ‘I think Callie should officially be responsible for the gardens.’
‘I thought she already was,’ he said.
‘All the new gardens.’
Callie noticed Connor’s slight hesitation, no doubt brought on by her earlier outburst.
But he nodded and asked her, ‘Are you looking for more work?’
She could see the value in finishing the job, in taking the promotional photos she’d thought about. It would be a great start. She’d been here two da
ys and no one had looked at her twice, so it didn’t seem like being recognised would be an issue. ‘I suppose I could be,’ she said. ‘I only offered initially because I enjoy it and Tess needed some help. But …’
‘But you will?’ Tess finished for her.
‘You’ll want to see my rates,’ she decided.
‘Hearing them would do,’ Connor said. ‘What are we looking at?’
Callie scrambled to work it out—she hadn’t completely settled on her rates yet, so she quoted on the high side of what she was hoping for.
Connor nodded. ‘Sounds fair.’
‘Excellent!’ Tess said.
‘And tell me what supplies you need for the irrigation,’ Connor continued. ‘I’ll get them ordered for you asap.’
‘I’ll have to get back to you on that. I would usually quote you on costs, do the ordering myself.’
‘Even better.’ He held out a hand. ‘Good to have you on board.’
‘Thanks.’ Callie wondered what it was about the man that made her feel so damn insecure, and why, after her earlier comments, he’d want anything to do with her. But she shook. His large, callused hand completely engulfed hers for a moment, then released her. ‘It won’t take long.’
‘Would you like to come back up to the guesthouse for a drink to celebrate?’ Tess asked.
‘Not today,’ she said. She’d be more comfortable going back to the cottage and starting a fire. Especially considering the state of her clothes. ‘But thanks. Another time.’
‘Sure,’ Tess said. ‘See you Monday?’
‘I’ll be here.’ Callie dusted herself off and smiled a goodbye, then went back to her car. She was already thinking about what she’d need to order for the project. She’d taken enough notes to pull together a pretty good estimate and wondered if there was a local stockist Connor would prefer to use so she could contact them over pricing. This was exciting. Progress. Getting her life back on track looked like it would happen quicker than she’d planned. No doubt all the weird little things that had been worrying her about Waldron Park would fade away with some routine and structure to her days. With a job to do.